Friday, 23 January 2015

I will start off with the Jump Off Points that I have made to blend in a little with this terrain, although my existing ones that I have would have done the job really. The beauty of JOP's is that they are just bits of unobtrusive scenic terrain which look nice on the table but also have a purpose in the game.

When making these, I had run out of 'Green Stuff' and Milliput to make my sandbags with, so I thought I would give 'Blue Tack' a try instead as it is easy to shape and I thought a coating of wood glue over the top would harden it up when it dry's. Plus you can pick up Blue Tack for £1 a pack which makes it good value if you plan on making terrain with a lot of sandbags built into it.

I have also finished the support options for my platoon unless Empress Miniatures plan on adding to their excellent range of figures for these guys. I do have some more vehicles to paint up, so I guess I am not quite finished yet.

I also added a couple of extra packs of infantry to fill out the platoon and to give me a few different weapon options amongst the squads.

This also meant I had figures left over to use if I need to dismount my vehicle crews.

Platoon and support options.

Couple of action shots.

I also got myself a Chinook to add to my Apache and Black Hawke Helicopters. The Chinook is for my USMC platoon which I will paint up after I finish off painting the Insurgents but thought it would make a nice backdrop for now.

And last but not least, Warlord have kindly just sent me a copy of their new theatre book 'OSTFRONT' which is soon to be released, for supplying them with some pictures from my WW2 collection. I look forward to having a proper read of it over the weekend but just flicking through it now, there looks like plenty of useful info in there whether you play Bolt Action or use a different set of WW2 rules, and of course, lots of nice pictures.

Friday, 16 January 2015

I recently painted some 'Empress Miniatures' figures from their excellent Modern Range. First up is four figures from one of their Special Forces packs. I have painted these in a mix of different camo and not too uniform in appearance as you would expect. The vehicles are a couple of die cast toys that I repainted a while ago.

A couple of 'Downed Helicopter Pilots' from Empress. I have painted one of these in a plain flying suit and body armour so that I can use him for both my British and American collections if need be.

Next up, I have painted up some more British Infantry to fill out the platoon. I have changed the way I have painted the Multi Cam on these, as the original ones that I did I felt probably had a little too much green in the pattern. I will show a few comparison shots of these in a moment but first, here is my latest attempt at the modern camo.

The platoon and supports so far.

I will be adding to these in my next post with more support options, including medic, mortars, HMG, mine clearance and dog handler. I have also done some 'Jump Off Points' specific for CoC 'Fighting Season' which I shall post.

A comparison shot of the original Multi Cam that I painted on the figure on the right, next to my latest version on the left.

Whilst we are on the subject of camo, I was quite surprised how effective even a painted representation of camouflage is on a toy soldier when placed in the appropriate terrain. After viewing some of the pictures I had taken, I found all I was looking at was the terrain and it was only on closer inspection I noticed the figure. (Then again, maybe it is my age and eyesight)

Same again, old painted style camo on right and the latest batch on left of the picture. I have also put in a couple of non camo figures for comparison.

Sunday, 4 January 2015

Here we have the latest build for my Afghan village, some of those high walls and compounds that seems to be a common defensive terrain feature in that part of the world.

As mentioned in previous posts, this is in preparation for the release later this year of Leigh Neville's 'Fighting Season' the rule variant for 'The Too Fat Lardies' Chain of Command which covers post 2001 counter-insurgencies in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Richard Clarke of 'Too Fat Lardies' has been working on his own Afghan village at the moment and I have been picking up a few excellent ideas from him for my own village. One of these being modular compounds and another, replacement damaged wall sections ready for when you use those anti-tank bar mines to breach compound walls.

First off, the walls made in the usual way of using pink insulation foam, tile grout, sand and white glue and then painted with dark brown paint, followed by lighter shades of paint.

The walls are also ideal for protecting those opium crops.

The following building is a plastic one from Perry Miniatures which I had originally painted and put onto a base. Having seen what Richard had done with his modular compounds, I decided to give it a go for this building, which now gives me the option of using it as a stand alone building or as part of a compound.

These sections also fit in nicely with the other village buildings that I made, if I need to change things around a bit.

I have set the village up on the table for the usual little photo shoot. The only thing I have improvised on is the main road, which is not perfect but will have to do until I get around to making something more appropriate.

A Taliban come-on ambush.

As this post is so picture heavy, I will leave the latest figures that I have painted for this project until next post. The figures are from Empress Miniatures and they include the Downed helicopter crew, some special forces guys and some more British Infantry.

Richard has invited me over to his place in the near future to try out 'Fighting Season' so I will keep you posted.

SETTING THE SCENE terrain book

About Me

Hi, my name is Pat and I live in the United Kingdom with my wife and son. I have a growing collection of unpainted plastic and lead toy soldiers which I am fighting a losing battle with as the pile keeps growing. Hope you enjoy this blog,
Pat.